1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with an improved stirrup construction which is designed to inhibit rearward rotation of the stirrup to thus prevent inadvertent passage of a rider's foot completely through the stirrup and consequent injury to the rider. More particularly, the invention pertains to a safety stirrup having an upper, forwardly canted cam arrangement which is co-operable with the stirrup strap for preventing undue rearward rotation of the stirrup.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common accident among horsemen results when the rider's foot passes forwardly through a stirrup, and can lead to an extreme danger to the rider of being dragged by the horse if the rider falls from the saddle while his foot is so entangled with the stirrup. This type of mishap is especially common with western-type saddles making use of stirrups having suspension shafts or tubes pivotally supported by small, looped leather straps which buckle around these shafts. Such stirrup arrangements allow the stirrup bodies to swing front-to-rear in an arc sometimes exceeding 180 degrees. This relatively unrestricted rearward stirrup rotation is a prime cause of accidents where the rider's foot passes completely through a stirrup.
A number of safety stirrups have been proposed in the past in an attempt to provide stirrup assemblies which prevent or at least ameliorate rider accidents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,316 describes a cantilever stirrup designed to give way if a rider falls, thus preventing entanglement between the stirrup and the rider's foot. However, this patent does not provide any means for preventing or limiting rearward pivoting of the stirrup itself.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 367,696, 1,074,481, 215,942, 23,572, 107,448 and 4,281,503 describe other types of specialized stirrup constructions seeking to provide enhanced rider safety. Here again though, these patents do not address the problem of unrestricted, front-to-rear pivoting of stirrups.